3,600 pensions suspended in Maputo

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3,600 pensions suspended in Maputo

8:11 CAT | 03 Apr 2017

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Mozambique’s National Social Security Institute (INSS) has suspended payment of pensions to over 3,600 pensioners in Maputo city, who have not proved that they are still alive, reports Monday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”.

Each pensioner is obliged to provide “proof of life” in the first quarter of every year, by personally visiting an INSS office.

By the end of December 2016, there were 17,602 pensioners registered in Maputo. But only 13,904 of them (79 per cent) had provided “proof of life” by the end of March. So the payment of pensions will be interrupted for the remaining 3,698 – of these, 2,176 were receiving old age pensions, 49 invalidity pensions, and 1,473 survival pensions.

“This is not a reason for us to feel proud”, said INSS Maputo City delegate Sarmento Senda, “since we are aware that for many people the pension is their only source of income. But we have to be sure that we are paying the right person, hence the need for the annual proof of life”.

He said the INSS will only resume payment of the suspended pensions once the people concerned have prove that they are still alive.

The INSS has opened an exception for about 150 pensioners in Maputo who are disabled and cannot readily visit the INSS office. Brigades have been set up to register these pensioners in their homes, and even if they have not yet been registered, their pensions have not been suspended.

Maputo city contains the largest number of registered INSS pensioners (17.602), followed by Maputo province (8,698), and the central province of Sofala (8,418). The smallest number of INSS pensioners is in the northern province of Niassa (516).

Source: AIM